Honoring Owen Finberg

Dear South Kent Soccer Alumni,

Since 2004, Coach Owen Finberg has been at South Kent School, building a soccer program and a culture of brotherhood unlike any other.

On Monday, April 3, just hours after he coached two teams all weekend (one to a major tournament win and one as tournament runner-up) our school administrators called a meeting for the soccer players and told us that Coach Owen is no longer employed at South Kent.

Coach Owen has managed this transitional year with the same respect and class he expects from us every day, both in the classroom and on the pitch. We are proud of our coach for the grace and diplomacy he has shown in what has been a difficult situation, never disparaging our school or administrators even during scenarios we found confusing and upsetting.

We have all benefitted from our time with Coach: as players, as students and as young men. More than the wins, the championship titles and the college commitments, he has taught us about teammates-as-brothers and given us lessons in humanity, gratitude, anti-racism, equality, kindness, accountability, excellence and inclusiveness. He is far far more than a coach to us, he is an educator, caregiver, guide, advisor and surrogate parent to many, especially those far from home.

While Coach will soon be joining a new school community to build a new soccer program, we, along with the nearly two decades of alumni he has coached, have lost the opportunity to thank and honor him in person at our school.

Given that, we are hosting this fundraiser so that Cardinal alumni and their families can honor Coach Owen Finberg and what he created in his 19 years at South Kent School.

We invite you to help us create a discretionary fund for Coach Owen to oversee as he sees fit, whether it be for personal expenses covering the salary and health benefit shortfall he now faces this spring, financial support of others or even gifts to Thrive League and other non-profits aligned with his goals of equality and anti-racism.

Please join us in supporting Coach, who has supported so many of us in so many ways. We are so grateful for him and wish we could have been together until the end of the school year.

He doesn’t know we are hosting this fundraiser and would likely tell us not to do this if he could, but this is how we choose to honor him.

Sincerely,

South Kent Soccer 2022-2023

Coach Owen’s final South Kent teams